Holidays in Roquetas de Mar
Santa Ana castle
Built in the 16th and 17th centuries, the castle was almost flattened in the 19th century by an earthquake.
Carefully rebuilt, it is now used for exhibitions.
Lighthouse
The surroundings of the castle of Santa Ana were also carefully arranged, with the inclusion of an auditorium and garden area.
The most visible element is a small lighthouse, now for tourist purposes only.
Fountain of discoveries
The roundabout next to the castle of Santa Ana is adorned by a fountain called “Discoveries”.
It seems to be a recent construction, I didn’t find references to it, and that… decorates the area!
Playa Serena
Roquetas is a long stretch of beach, only separated from neighboring Aguadulce by just over 2 km of uninhabited beach.
I stayed in the south part, in an area called Playa Serena, with all the conditions, and a good quality beach.
La Romanilla
The beach north of the castle seems to have the same conditions, extending as far as the eye can see to an uninhabited area.
Next to the castle, the appearance seems a little different, with smaller volumes and distance between buildings, and cars further away from the sea.
El puerto
Next to the castle there is a well protected port.
By the standards of this Spanish coast it seems small, and, perhaps because of this, it does not have the dense and frenetic commerce of other marinas.
Eating in Roquetas, as in many other beaches in Spain, offers a multitude of options, for all tastes and budgets. Here are the ones we tried:
Almar – Eating in Roquetas
Almar – Eating in RoquetasIn a rank of several restaurants side-by-side in the second line of the beach, this restaurant seemed to have the lowest prices for a light dinner, and it was our choice.
It matched our expectations, the food was reasonable (though the “paellas” were a little bit saltes for our common tastes), and the price was fair.
No special reason to return, nor to skip it.
Meson Don Jamon
Meson Don Jamon 
An attractive esplanade with several fans, in a not very hot evening, invited us for dinner. Five of us shared four “Roscas andaluzas”, a huge wheel of bread filled with different mixes of cooked food. They were appreciated, everything else was normal, and the price very reasonable.
It is close to the hotel, so I think that we will return.
Florencia – Eating in Roquetas
With a closed restaurant at its side, its almost empty esplanade, in August, gave us the idea that the restaurant may not have a promising future.
We risked, anyway, and the present was satisfactory – Well served dishes, tasty food, and moderated prices.
I hope I was wrong, but when we left the sensation of emptiness remained…
Bar de tapas Ana – Eating in Roquetas
When we sat, the prices seemed a little bit high, but, at the end, we paid as usual.
Those savings were the result of the option of half the group, to replace the regular dishes by “tapas”.
Nothing special, nothing to complaint, just one more meal.
Marc’s
A very discreet restaurant, somewhat hidden, with evident signals of degradation, displayed a menu with extremely low prices.
We risked, and had the cheapest meal in Roquetas. The tapas were poor and not much elaborated, but the steak was really tasteful and well served.
El Coto
The women of our group said that the tapas here were smaller than in the previous restaurants, but I noticed that there was more variety, and the preparation was more elaborated.
We ordered three normal dishes and they were well served and tasteful.
The best of all… the price – much cheaper than all the other meals. That may be the reason why, when exiting, we saw the long line waiting for our tables.
Website: El Coto
Heladaria Blossom
When a group of women and children cross half of the town to have an ice cream, it must be good.
I didn’t eat it, but I was the only one, and I think that I must be prepared to return in the next days…
Manolo tapas bar
Someone gave us a leaflet in the beach, promoting this restaurant, and, as we had no reason to refuse it, and wanted to try anything new, we went there.
It was easy to understand why they have to announce it in a hard way – it is somewhat hidden, and very discreet.
The service was gentle, the prices were low and the food acceptable.
Ok, but just one more!
Eudoxia
Eudoxia
After a week, we decided to change, trying the Greek cuisine.
It was a wise decision and a good choice. The service was slow, and not too efficient, but the food was really good and… different.
We tried several dishes, and two of them were great surprises. Of course, our knowledge of Greek didn’t allow us to remember the strange names.
La Vela restaurant
The last meal in Roquetas was, maybe the best – excluding the buffet in the hotel, and the challenging Greek Eudoxia.
Some of us ordered a regular dinner, the other opted for tapas, and everybody was pleased at a nice price.
Neptuno hotel
Neptuno hotel
This hotel was a great find, with excellent 4-star service, well organized, good food and entertainment, very close to the sea, for the price I got.
I don’t say the price (so as not to arouse envy), I just say that I found it on a till then unknown site – Kiwi.
Not convinced
If you travel with kids, you will, probably, be pushed to ride in the tourist mini-train, as we were.
Well, for the kids it may be a new experience, but after half an hour seeing hotels and parked cars, they will agree that it is a boring experience.
Six euros for adults and three for children, is a honest punishment.
Castor park
Traveling with children was the excuse for not exploring the nightlife, which advancing age also makes secondary.
But there was no shortage of fun for children, in a small but very lively park by the sea.
Gran Plaza
It was a few kilometers from the hotel to this large shopping center, but the attraction for the ladies was such that we had to use the car more than expected.
I must confess that the men never complained.
Nautical sports
At various points along the long beach it is possible to rent any of the usual nautical entertainment equipment.
The family opted for a bouncy sofa, and all ages enjoyed it.
